Oral history project seeks to capture Rochester memories

Special to The Oakland Press/ANNETTE KINGSBURYCornelia Pokrzywa (left), a lecturer at Oakland University, chats with Marye Miller, Executive Director of the Rochester Older Persons Commission. Miller recorded an oral history for the Rochester Oral History Project, which is led by Pokrzywa through the university's Department of Writing and Rhetoric.

Women age 55 and older are the fastest-growing demographic on Facebook, according to a report by Inside Network. People are finding new ways to use it every day.

When Oakland University lecturer Cornelia Pokrzywa took her kids on a month-long vacation, their grandmother made the leap to Facebook so she could keep in touch. Now Pokrzywa and her students are using social media to preserve memories about Rochester for future generations.

Thanks to a start-up grant from Building the Civic Net, a Rochester Hills-based philanthropy, in February Oakland University launched the Rochester Oral History Project as a pilot project for the department of writing and rhetoric, where Pokrzywa teaches. Oakland University's Meadow Brook Writing Project provided a matching grant.

The project seeks to record and preserve memories about Rochester from people age 55 and older. They can be memories from any time, even recent ones. The completed interviews are easily accessible and can be shared via the university's Web site, Facebook and YouTube.

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On a recent day, Pokrzywa, of Oakland Township, took her computer and a microphone to the Rochester Older Persons Commission, where she sat down with OPC Executive Director Marye Miller and (separately) Oakland Township Supervisor Joan Fogler. Miller said she spent an hour sharing her memories, including how she got interested in working with seniors.

"What she does is she shows you some of the things they've done before. And if you get to a lag, she asks you a question," Miller said, referring to Pokrzywa. "What she is so good at is she really wants to get people in their own words. I'm happy she's not just using people that are known in the community, but everyday Joes."

Fogler said she talked about her days working at Knapp's Dairy Bar and living over a store downtown. She also talked about the deaths of her husband and son.

"She asked me a few questions, which helped," Fogler said. "I had no idea what she wanted to hear." Others who have been recorded include Cecile Wendt Jensen, who taught at Rochester Adams High School from 1976 to 2002, and Cammie Mannino, who owned Halfway Down the Stairs children's bookstore. She talked about the history of her store and her involvement in fighting censorship.

Pokrzywa said she heard about a similar project at a conference. She was also familiar with Story Corps, which has recorded 60,000 stories nationally since 2003. The stories have aired regularly on National Public Radio and are archived at the Library of Congress.

"Our goal is that we're sharing these and making them available on the Web," Pokrzywa said. "It does not have to be people who lived here way back when. Our only requirement is they have to talk about Rochester memories. ... We're really trying to facilitate a conversation."

The interviews are usually conducted in quiet rooms. But on Sept. 25-26, interviews will be recorded during the Rochester Area Heritage Festival at Rochester College.

"We're going to actually record there," Pokrzywa said. "We're looking for some creative sound solutions. We have done these with ambient noise. Since we're at a festival, it would be OK to have some sense that we are there."

FYI

To avoid possible wait times, Cornelia Pokrzywa is taking appointments for the Rochester Area Heritage Festival on Sept. 25-26. Contact her at pokrzywa@oakland.edu or 248-895-0802.